Okay, first admission: I'm re-reading this at twenty-five years old. As the kids say: YOLO. Ergo, my diving into this easy, breezy, ever-delightful read.

Anne Shirley, for the rare and uneducated soul, is one of our Patron Saints of Gingers. (Second admission: self-professed ginger; the proffered photograph lacks any doctoring in Photoshop beyond that of kind cropping.) She (along with Pippi Longstocking, the Weasleys, and any soul that Molly Ringwald gave to life in her acting) gave the awkward, red-headed stepchildren of the world such as myself hope. Mayhaps -- could my flights of ridiculous, dream-eyed fancy turn me into someone as gracious and accomplished as the Miss Shirley that blossoms at the end of this tale? How I hoped -- although, mind you, some of her infamous scrapes seemed so fanciful as to be irritating as of my first age of reading this (coincidentally, also at roughly age eleven).

I won't go through the plot, because Lord knows how well-published and versed the tale of Anne Shirley, the Cuthberts, and all of Avonlea are to most in the Western hemisphere, but I do wish to remark that Montgomery's writing ages terrifically well. It doesn't surprise me to find out that Montgomery had meant to write for a broader audience than the youth demographic; similarly, her vocabulary is breezy enough to be enjoyed by youth but challenging enough to not feel as if it's a idiot's read for the mild to moderately nostalgic individual aching to revisit his or her childhood. Moreover, Montgomery's characterization of souls really shines with the benefit of experience; whereas I was once wholly biased against Marilla in my youth, for example, I now see the beauty of the craft of her character by Montgomery's hands. And the interpersonal relationships -- well, if there was ever a justification for a brief touch of soliloquy, Montgomery's stylistic tendencies are it.

Mind you, Anne of Green Gables (and her sequels, I'm sure, but we'll see) is emblematic of late Victorian to early Edwardian literature of the time. There are Morals and a heavy presence of Christianity, but if you're really that jaded about such a presence in storytelling from that time period, you probably shouldn't be looking into this series. Similarly, if you're into heavy lifting with your books, don't come knocking -- Montgomery is a champion of small revelations in the character of Man, not Big Truths. Think of it this way: reading Anne of Green Gables is sweet, nourishing, refreshing: a smoothie in terms of reading, I'd think. It's lovely, easy to consume, terribly nutritious in certain ways, and good for the soul. But it's not a good vegan meal in terms of reading, that's for sure.